What the people of Japan are facing today, after an earthquake of historic magnitude and a towering wall of water crashing over them in its wake, really puts things in perspective. Neighborhoods washed out to sea, more than one thousand feared dead, aftershocks, people roaming homeless, searching for their relatives, two nuclear plants leaking radioactive steam. My own preoccupations seem very small today. The dimensions of the disaster are still unfolding. (And I'm lying. I'm still spiraling. Still lost in the weeds. Other people's grief only makes it larger and more cosmic, more forgivable to cry.) Whispering a prayer.
It's absolutly heartbreaking. Our lives can be turned inside out in less than a second. I think that indeed, I want to appreciate what I have more than ever, and thrive more.
ReplyDeleteMiss A, that is the most unsettling part. All these people were just going about their lives, and then...wow.
ReplyDeleteThrive, my friend.
Certainly does put things in perspective.
ReplyDeleteah... it is always sobering to remember not to forget that every moment is a gift.
ReplyDeleteI just can't imagine.
and I think it is important that we live with joy right? , otherwise we are squandering our gift.
Emphatic reminders to take no blessing for granted and to find what hand-holds we can to remain in our hearts, in love, for all. I keep wondering, what are we to make of any of this? It feels too big. xo
ReplyDeletethere are no words to capture what i feel when i look at the photos and think the thoughts
ReplyDeletejust a wall of emotion
and a broken heart
I was in a very bleak and lonely place in 2004 when the Indonesian tsunami took so many lives. I wasn't afraid I was going to come back, emotionally or spiritually. It is so very hard to have faith in anything in such times. I'm in a more stable place now, to witness the heartbreaking devastation in Japan, but it makes me pause, to be grateful, to be compassionate, and to hold on. Maybe wear a shirt with my name on it, like Michelle.
ReplyDeleteI read that there is no increase in the number or severity of these natural disasters, just a sobering and increasing amount of humanity in it's way. Life is so harsh. Hope is what I have to send, hope that relief comes soon, that the reactors can be cooled, that lost loved ones can find each other.
If you get lost in the weeds, call out. I will holler back, and send some of my hope your way. And as always, I recommend all the hugs you can get.
XO
I'm spiraling, too -- it's awful.
ReplyDeleteRotton Mom, indeed it does. so sad.
ReplyDeletedeb, so true. but can one command joy to appear? maybe one can? my mom would say it's a matter of faith.
Marylinn, it feels too big to me, too. but your being here, that I can wrap my arms around, thank you.
mouse, no words. but we are here together, holding a candle. bless.
Mel, life keeps happening, no way around that. and we don't lose hope. we keep on.
"Other people's grief only makes it larger and more cosmic"
ReplyDeleteYes.
Welcome home, mary moon!
ReplyDelete